Sammamish, WA Building Safety: Building Permits (2026)

SMC 16.20.195 sets the baseline: any owner or owner's authorized agent who intends to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure, or to erect, install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace a regulated gas, mechanical or plumbing system, must first apply to the permit center and obtain the permit before the work, or causing the work to be done, begins. The application itself must identify the work, the parcel and address, the owner's contact information, the licensed contractor's business name and state registration number, the intended use or occupancy, required plans and specifications, and the valuation of the proposed work, per SMC 16.20.215.

City staff screen the application for completeness under SMC 16.20.220, and no building permit issues until every related project approval, including SEPA review, subdivision, PUD, conditional use, variance, shoreline and critical areas approvals, is complete and its fees and conditions satisfied. A preconstruction meeting is required after issuance of any construction permit tied to a land use permit or a critical-areas property, under SMC 16.20.222. Once granted, a permit expires two years from issuance under SMC 16.20.235; the building official may approve one written extension of up to one additional year, submitted within 30 days of expiration with a construction schedule and half the original permit fee, per SMC 16.20.237, and an extended permit still expires no later than three years after original issuance. Applications for which no permit issues within 18 months of filing expire automatically under SMC 16.20.225.